The first question you need answered is this: WHY DO I NEED MY BUSINESS LISTED ON GOOGLE PLUS? I feel there are a couple of pretty good reasons. First, Google Plus is the only REAL social networking competition to Facebook. Sure, most people are ON Facebook, but there are some who are not. Perhaps those who have issues with Facebook's ever changing look and feel. Privacy concerns also plaque some Facebook users. The second reason is the integration into the other Google services(Google Docs, Google Places, Google Calendar, etc) are more semless and easier. Also, from a business persective, Google is still the search engine most people here in the states turn too for searching for products and services. Lastly, it is the newest social network out there and it is always good to have at the very least a presence out there.

So, now we know WHY your business needs to be on Google Plus, so how do you do it? Here is a walk-through of setting up your business on Google Plus:

The first thing you need to do is create your own personal Google Plus account. The reason why you need a personal account is that Google links the your personal account (without others knowing) to the Business Page. They do this so that they can be sure someone is responsible for the page.

So once you have your page set up scroll to the bottom of the page and you will notice a small link labeled “Create a Page”. Click it.

Currently there are 5 different Catagories for Google Business Page:

Facebook Questions Application: Small Business Help

As a small business owner, why should I care about Facebook Questions? Facebook Questions is a great way to interact with your fan base. A word of caution. Just like all communication on Facebook, you want to be careful about OVER POSTING.. if you post to often, you will get HID.

What is Facebook Questions? It is a new Facebook application (Developed by Facebook)  that you can install on your Profile or Fan Page. This application allows you to do a number of things, most importantly post questions to you Friends/Fans.

Why is this different than just posting a status message with a question? There are some polling features as well as some other reporting options.

How do you install the Facebook Questions application? Currently, Facebook has a large testing group that is currently using the application. The application is being made available to their friends and is being propagated throughout the Facebook Network. Eventually, you will get an invite. If you want to install it without having to wait, just go to http://facebook.com/questions .

Steps to install Facebook Questions

1.       Log into Facebook.

2.       Go to http://facebook.com/questions

3.       Click on “Get Questions Now”. This will install the Questions application.

4.       Click Okay.

Facebook LIKE Button is Changing

Facebook is changing the functionality of the LIKE button for comments and pictures/videos. Why is this important to you? Basiclly, it will post what you LIKE on your wall for your friends to see. Before, you could LIKE something and only the person who posted the item as well as other people who actually SEE the inital post would see that you LIKED IT? Confusing? Yeah.. so let me go into more detail about the LIKE button.

What is the "Like" button? There are actually two types "LIKE" buttons We are not speaking of the "LIKE" button that you use when you LIKE a business, band or organisation (Normally at the top of a Facebook Page). The LIKE button we are speaking about is the button that normally appears at the bottom of most posts.

Normally, when you "LIKE" a comment or picture/video or comment, there are only a few people that ever see that you actually LIKE what they say. In the past, you could like something and none of your friends would ever see that LIKE unless they see that exact same post. This activity would lead to people LIKING EVERYTHING. So Facebook is changing the functionality.

An update is getting rolled out throughout Facebook (could be a few days before you see the update) that changes the way the LIKE works. Now when you LIKE something, that LIKE gets posted on your personal WALL. This means that your friends, family, business contacts and everyone else can see why you LIKE. This is something to keep in mind when you are on Facebook. You are telling people what you like, this could hurt your online rep. Or help it, if you are smart...

How to Link your Facebook Wall posts with your Twitter Messages

There are a million places online where you could post information about your business or service, but who has the time? I have found a great way to SAVE SOME TIME when posting information to your fans.

Long term, you should have your "Update Engine" START with you posting something website. That informaiton should be automaticly pulled into your Facebook Fan page, and that information should be pushed automaticly to your Twitter account. That way you update ONE place and THREE of "areas" of your Update Engine are updated at ONCE. This save your a TON of time. The steps below are just how to link your FACEBOOK FAN PAGE to your TWITTER account. We assume that you have both accounts aready set up. (if not, send us a mail and we can help you)

1. Log into your Facebook account. (This can be done one of two ways. Either you have a Facebook Profile <HUMAN ACCOUNT> that is linked to your fan page <BUSINESS ACCOUNT> or you just have a Facebook Fan Page <Business Account>. **Right now, you need to have a Facebook Profile <HUMAN ACCOUNT> to do perform the linking of Facebook and Twitter.

2. Once you are logged into Facebook, go to the address bar in your web browser (the place where you see http://www...) and type in (no quotes) "facebook.com/twitter".

3. Hit Enter (you should see something like this:)

So your business needs to go "online". Where do you start? If I had a dollar for every time I heard that question, I would have millions. So, where DO you start?

When online, the first thing you should focus on is your website. Creating your personal space on the internet. Once that website is has been created, everything else you do online can be pointed to your online property. So to answer that question: Where do I start, the answer is: create a website.

- McVeigh Group

McVeigh Group is a trustworthy team of talented website designers, developers and IT consultants who live in Bothell Washington. We provide low cost websites and website consulting to small businesses in Bothell, Bellevue, Redmond, Seattle, Issaquah, Renton, Tacoma and Everett. To effectively leverage the internet to increase your business, McVeigh Group believes that each of these areas should be addressed. If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email at info (at) McveighGroup dot com and we will be happy to answer any questions you have for FREE. Yes, for free.

We're featured Bothell web design company in Washington web design company directory at Finders - US web designers directory